Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
punishment
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
pillory protest against capital punishment
Read Next
Woman tied to a ducking stool, a method of punishment by means of humiliation, beating, or death. (cucking stool)
8 Unusual Punishments Inflicted on Women Throughout History
Small, white rat (genus Rattus) on a glass table. (rodent, laboratory, experiment)
Cruel and Unusual Punishments: 15 Types of Torture
Prison corridor, jail, crime, punishment
Pro and Con: Private Prisons
Discover
Panama Canal infographic
Timeline and Map of the Panama Canal
Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and autodidact.
6 Interesting Facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan
Four year old boy with grandfather and father lighting Hanukkah menorah. Photo taken on: December 21st, 2009
Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?
Facsimile of one of William Henry Ireland's forgeries, a primitive self-portrait of William Shakespeare(tinted engraving). Published for Samuel Ireland, Norfolk Street, Strand, December 1, 1795. (W.H. Ireland, forgery)
The Time a Law Clerk Successfully Forged a New Shakespeare Play to Impress His Dad
Scottish fold cat. A genetic mutation caused (in the original cat-1961) the ears to bend forward and down.
Shorthair Cat Breeds
Coriander leaves, fresh green cilantro on wooden background, herbs
Why Does Cilantro Taste Like Soap to Some People?
A mug shot taken by the regional Colombia control agency in Medellin
Pablo Escobar: 8 Interesting Facts About the King of Cocaine
pillory
pillory Woodcut showing a pillory being used for public punishment of a man accused of passing counterfeit money.

punishment

law
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://mainten.top/topic/punishment
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Also known as: penalty
Written by
Donald C. Clarke
Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C. Author of Wrongs and Rights: A Human Rights Analysis of China's Revised Criminal Code.
Donald C. Clarke,
Antony Nicolas Allott
Professor of African and Comparative Law, University of Buckingham, England. Emeritus Professor of African Law, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Author of New Essays in...
Antony Nicolas Allott•All
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History

punishment, the infliction of some kind of pain or loss upon a person for a misdeed (i.e., the transgression of a law or command). Punishment may take forms ranging from capital punishment, flogging, forced labour, and mutilation of the body to imprisonment and fines. Deferred punishments consist of penalties that are imposed only if an offense is repeated within a specified time. In some premodern societies, punishment was largely vindictive or retributive, and its prosecution was left to the individuals wronged (or to their families). In quantity and quality such punishment bore no special relation to the character or gravity ...(100 of 2958 words)

Access the full article
Help support true facts by becoming a member.